HAPS-Enabled Sustainability Provision in Cellular Networks through Cell-Switching

Abstract: There is a consensus in the literature that cell-switching is a viable solution to tackle the draconian increase in the energy consumption of cellular networks. Although the literature is full of works addressing the energy consumption problem via cell-switching, where small cells with low or no load are turned off and the traffic is offloaded to either adjacent base stations or macro cells, in terrestrial communication networks, they may not be feasible when there is either a lack of infrastructure or insufficient capacity due to high demand. The integration of non-terrestrial networks (NTN) into the cell-switching process can be considered as a visionary approach to handle this problem. In this regard, high altitude platform station (HAPS) draws considerable attention with its massive footprint, high capacity, and ubiquitous connectivity. The aim of this study is to show the potential benefits of using HAPS in cell-switching methods by being a bountiful host for offloaded users from cell-switching operations. More specifically, HAPS is included in the network so that it can increase the switching off opportunities by providing extra coverage and capacity. The simulation results demonstrate that a significant amount of reduction in energy consumption (as high as 16%) is obtained while ensuring quality-of-service (QoS) requirements.